ogreslayer

Now Emmerton? What the hell is going on tonight?

OK who do we rag on next then? Abby? Miller?

Kindl? Really? Really???

Cleary? Yeah, from a bag of pucks to 2 bags of pucks. Nice to see him finally get on the board though.

I think the answer to the question really could hinge on whether or not Fil is re-signed in the offseason. If not, the chances of Jarnkrok being pulled from Sweden & directly into the Wings line-up goes up significantly.

Joey Mac will end up doing a conditioning stint in GR before he sees any time with the big club.

To put a spin on what you mentioned about "untapped markets", I've always thought that the draft strategy for the Wings in the 90's up to around 2004-05 was very similar to the whole Billy Beane/Moneyball process in baseball. It all came down to identifying market inefficiencies & taking advantage of them for as long as you can. For Beane, it started with findng players with high OBP passed over by other teams because they were overscouting for RBIs, HRs, etc. For the Wings, it was putting more focus on an untapped European market while other teams spent the majority of their time focusing on the overscouted North American market. In both cases though, success leads to imitation & eventually the rest of the league catches up to you. The obvious difference on why the Wings system remained more successful than the A's, to me at least, is that the Wings could afford to pay for & attract high level free agents up to the implementation of the salary cap. That also afforded them the luxury of drafting smaller but skilled players they could let mature in the minors/overseas longer & better set them up for success once they made the big club. They had the luxury of taking chances on relative unknowns like a Datsyuk & look like geniuses when the found a diamond in the rough. If you look at the Wings draft picks since Kenny's first draft, you'll notice a trend towards European picks between 1999 & 2005 to the tune of about a 65/35% split between European & North American prospects. Since the 04-05 lockout though, while it hasn't completely flipped it's reversed to around 55/45 NA vs Europe. (Don't quote me on those exact numbers, it's been a while since I've run them) With the rest of the league scouting Europe now as much as the Wings have historically & with the salary cap in place, we're seeing an shift in drafting strategy by the Wings. In my opinion it's because they recognize the old way of drafting for skill & letting them ripen in the minors won't be as successful as drafting for size/physical maturity & accelerating younger/cheaper players into the line-up in the cap era. So I guess this is my way of saying that we're probably going to see less & less of the "where did the Wings find this guy?" small, skilled, European prospects like a Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Hudler, Tatar, etc. going forward.

Might want to read that again. He said ALL BUT Tatar would have to be exposed to waivers meaning that Tatar IS waiver exempt.

I just hope that most around here don't set their expectations too high & think it's pronounced "Jesus".

If Sheahan could ever develop a consistent offensive game, he could project as a 2nd/3rd line center but until then, 3rd/4th is more realistic. I still think though that either he or Andersson would be an upgrade at 4th line center over Emmerton right now. Waiver exemptions are a hell of a thing though.

Tatar has similar points per game to Emmerton's best year in GR, .55/game for Tatar & .59/game for Emmerton, as a 19 year old getting his first exposure to North American hockey. That best year for Emmerton was when he was 23. Tatar, who is 22 as of December 1st, is currently sitting at .88 points per game in GR this season. So yeah, nothing to see here when it comes to comparing Tatar to an at best career 12th/13th forward.

And the fact that unlike Cleary, Eaves actually has managed to put up a point this season despite not playing every game. Babs really needs to pull the trigger on sitting Cleary soon if things don't change imo.

He's going to start on the 2nd line w/ Pavs & Fil. Should be.... Mule-Hank-Brunner Fil-Pavs-Tatar Bert-Abby-Cleary Miller-Emmerton-Tootoo

I'm going with 2-1 for the Wings. Goals from Tatar & Brunner for the Wings & Happy for the Flames.

Slight correction: Hudler will use his MMA training & slap a gogoplata on Tootoo.

And yet Eaves is still the only bottom 6 player on the team that has a point right, or do we say him & The Todd now given his move to the 3rd line?

So let's go back to your original comment where you stated "I guess Babcock must think Zetterberg is better..." Since the lockout, Hank has averaged all of 0.2375 shifts a game more than Pavs. Not even a quarter of a shift. You could probably flip a coin with Z on one side & Pavs on the other over an entire season & not get that close. The number of shifts a player gets per game, not TOI, is a much more accurate indicator of the value a coach places on individual players in all-around situations. A coach realistically only has indirect influence on a players TOI through the DIRECT influence of how many shifts he gives a player. A .2375 shift per game variance between the two since the first lockout? Really? To me it feels like you're looking for a conspiracy where one doesn't exist.

Never know. Right now, the Oilers are looking at having 6 forwards & 5 d-men as either UF or RFAs at the end of the season plus Nugent-Hopkins is an RFA the year after & due a raise. Sure they're projected to have a little over $20m in cap space next year but I don't see them spending it given they're $16m under this year's cap.

And don't forget a new assistant coach who is trying to install a new power play system too.

Because that would make Bettman look like an idiot for expanding to those markets in the first place?

Try Columbus, not Colorado.

Average Shifts per game since the lockout: 2013= 25.8 Pavs, 24.5 Z 2011-12= 25.3 Pavs, 24.2 Z 2010-11= 23.4 Pavs, 23.6 Z 2009-10= 25.7 Pavs, 25.2 Z 2008-09= 25 Pavs, 25.5 Z 2007-08= 26 Pavs, 26.6 Z 2006-07= 25 Pavs, 26.6 Z 2005-06= 22.3 Pavs, 24.2 Z Looks pretty damn even to me when it comes to who Babs' putting on the ice when you're talking about a difference of 1 or less shifts per game.

You mean the Alex Edler that just signed a 6 year extension with the Canucks this month? http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/49459-Vancouver-Canucks-resign-defenceman-Alex-Edler-to-sixyear-contract-extension.html

This smacks of "As owners we're OK with the money we lost in the lockout, because we'll just turn around & create two new teams and rake in that expansion fee money to make up for it". Certainly doesn't look like it's for the overall health of the league to me, just the owners' wallets.

I was afraid, between the tux & the sunglasses, that he was going to break out a little Gangnam Style on the ice. Could break a hip doing that.